Why the Miami Dolphins Defense Deserves Most of the Blame for Early Struggles

Finger-pointing can be as pointless as a bowling ball, especially when there's as much blame to go around as there is with the Miami Dolphins.

But through two weeks, if it's a choice between the offense and the defense over which side has been a bigger disappointment, the answer is obvious.

The Dolphins offense is in transition. Some early hiccups were to be expected. There are two new starters at wide receiver, a new starter on the offensive line and a new tight end. Sure, some of those positions were upgraded in the process of transitioning to the new blood, but those pieces all need time to come together.

The defense is largely comprised of incumbents from last year (with some exceptions at linebacker and safety) as well as one massive upgrade on the defensive line. That unit was always expected to be the galvanizing force for the team. After some early-season struggles, though, there is plenty of reason for concern.

For 25 straight weeks, the Jacksonville Jaguars allowed at least one sack per game. That streak came to an end in Week 2 when the Jaguars finally got some respite against the Dolphins defense. Yes, that's the Dolphins defensive line that features two All-Pro pass-rushers in Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh, a young up-and-comer in Olivier Vernon and a formidable fourth wheel in Earl Mitchell.

The Dolphins shouldn't be the eye of the storm, they should be the tempest. 

This line is far too talented to be allowing 120-plus yards per game on the ground or to have tallied just one sack on the season so far.

The early struggles have given way to a report from Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald that Suh has been freelancing, which has caused some confusion among his teammates. Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin shot down those reports on Monday, and instead of blaming Suh's lack of production, he put the spotlight on the defense as a whole.

"Defense isn't about one player," Philbin said. "It's about 11 players and to say he's going to have X amount of tackles or X amount of sacks every game, I don't know—you have to watch the tape. Are they sliding the center that way every time? Are they double-teaming every single time? That's going to inhibit a guy's ability to make plays. You just can't look at a stat sheet and say, 'that's a good game, that's a bad game.'"

Player	Hurries	Hits	Sacks	Stops	Missed tackles
Ndamukong Suh	4	0	0	1	2
Earl Mitchell	7	0	0	2	0
Terrence Fede	1	2	0	2	0
Olivier Vernon	2	1	0	1	1
Cameron Wake	1	0	0	0	0
C.J. Mosley	0	0	0	1	0
Jordan Phillips	1	0	1	1	0

The front four isn't the Dolphins' only problem on defense, but it may be their most prominent. The Dolphins have been searching for a cornerback to put opposite Brent Grimes all offseason, and it appears their search continues. 

On Sunday, the job went to Brice McCain. Whether that should continue going forward is up for debate.

Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles targeted McCain with great success on Sunday, hitting four of seven passes in his direction for 80 yards and a touchdown, and also forcing a pass interference penalty in the second quarter that afforded the Jaguars a field goal which ultimately proved to be the difference in the game. 

"We look at everybody," Philbin said when asked for his evaluation of the cornerbacks who could play opposite Grimes. "Practice is critical. We look at everybody every week...Guys have to earn their playing time and we'll certainly evaluate that on an ongoing basis."

Given four months to evaluate it this offseason—between minicamp, organized team activities, training camp and the preseason—the Dolphins still couldn't find a suitable solution. 

But even as it seems like everything is crumbling around them, not all is lost for the Dolphins defense.

It should be noted that the unit currently ranks fifth in scoring, so they're doing something right. Upon further review, that "something" appears to be their second-half adjustments. Thus far, the Dolphins have given up 30 points in the first half of their first two games and just three points in the second half of those games. 

If only the Dolphins could start the game in the second half, maybe their struggles on defense would be less pronounced.

The Dolphins' slow starts, both on offense and defense, are symptomatic of a coaching staff that is not doing its job. If the Dolphins were better prepared, they wouldn't be digging themselves into these early holes. 

Players win games, coaches lose them. It's up to the coaching staff to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get this team back on track. But on talent alone, the defense should be performing much better than they've shown through two weeks. 

Unless otherwise noted, all advanced stats obtained via Pro Football Focus and Pro-Football-Reference.com. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.